Apparel industry steady
The apparel industry shows signs of a recovery, said the acting
Secretary General of the Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF) Rohan
Masakorala.
According to the first quarter export statistics there is no big
decline and during the last two months there is an increase in exports.
New orders are being received and there is an increase in demand. We
expect that markets will recover in the second quarter, Masakorala said.
Group Director of the MAS Holdings, one of the leading apparel
exporters in the, Dian Gomas confirmed the position of the industry and
said that the first quarter is good and industry and the individual
companies are very aggressive and they are very positive of the second
quarter.
Masakorala said that there are several factors that has contributed
for this optimism. One is the government’s reward scheme for export
industries.
Now our manufacturers can go for competitive price. We also expect
that the markets will recover.
Depreciation of Sri Lankan rupee will also be a strong positive
factor. The export industries continuously demand a gradual depreciation
of the rupee. However, there is a sudden depreciation and during the
April Sri Lankan rupee has depreciated by 5.1% against the US$. This is
very big plus factor.
The exchange rate policy has put our export industries at very
disadvantage position in the competitive international market. Most of
our competitors have depreciated their currencies.
The depreciation of rupee is a big cost mitigation factor and we
expect that the Central Bank will not intervene and stop it, he said.
Masakorala said that large number of factories have been closed down
last few months due to different reasons.
However, this new trend will end the crisis in the industry and will
stop closing down factories and lay off workers, he said. (GW)
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